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283P/Spacewatch

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.921 AU
True anomaly
196.18°
Distance from Earth
4.961 AU
As of
22 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Spacewatch — 5.921 AU from the Sun Spacewatch
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Spacewatch is 4.961 AU from Earth today (41.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
01h 16m 12s
Declination
-03° 24′ 59″
Constellation
Cetus
Distance from Earth
4.96 AU
Elongation from the Sun
162.79° — near opposition — up most of the night

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
4.134 AU
Eccentricity
0.4857
Inclination
14.46°
Orbital period
8.41 years
Perihelion
2.126 AU
Aphelion
6.142 AU
Longitude of ascending node
161.25°
Argument of periapsis
22°
Epoch · J2000
2455999.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 442.7 LD
1.1374 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.768

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
114
Data arc
17.47 years
First observed
17 February 1996
Last observed
8 August 2013
Residual RMS
0.61 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 May 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 283P · 283P/2013 EV9

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2034-12-27 22:18:00 Juptr 1.2044 AU 468.7 LD 5.6 km/s
2057-03-09 00:52:00 Juptr 0.7855 AU 305.7 LD 8.6 km/s
2092-11-19 14:01:00 Juptr 0.6971 AU 271.3 LD 5.9 km/s
2130-07-03 22:28:00 Juptr 1.0912 AU 424.7 LD 7 km/s
2152-04-05 12:26:00 Juptr 0.7747 AU 301.5 LD 5.8 km/s
2175-10-07 02:19:00 Juptr 1.1721 AU 456.2 LD 9.9 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources